asgardmeridiem | Lux Opening [OPEN]

Who: YOU. This is an OPEN log, heck yeah.
What: Lux's Grand Opening
When: Day 69, all night
Where: Lux, in the Baldr District
Rating: PG-13 to be safe—If the rating goes up in a thread, please let me know!

Welcome to Lux —

It's been under construction for about a month, and anyone in the Baldr district (or who just liked to wander) surely would have noticed the bar's construction. It was only a few days ago that the sign was finally put up—Lux.

Maybe you saw the owner's post on the network and decided to come see. Or maybe you were just walking past and was curious about the crowd of people who had gathered. Regardless, you'll be welcomed into a ritzy bar and lounge. There are some locals mingling about, and jazz is drifting through the air, since the owner is currently playing.

Should you decide to stay, you'll find that the drinks and food are very generously half price for grand opening. Or, if that's not to your taste, then surely the music and crowd will make up for it.

Welcome to Lux, the bar owned by the Devil himself.

quick jump to threads

outside lux ☄ around the bar ☄ general mingling ☄ by the stage ☄ speak with the owner

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The chill that sneaks down her spine is thoroughly unpleasant, and her jaw clenches, just slightly.]

Interesting?

[He nods, and actually moves to prop one elbow on the table, placing his chin in his hand as he stares at her.]

Very. 'Cause the expression you're giving me now's the same as when you first ran into me.

[She sucks in a tiny but sharp breath before she can stop herself. Blinking quickly, she presses her lips all more tightly together.]

... So?

[It's not belligerent at all, just reserved.]

[That sharp breath is barely visible to him, in the way her lips part before she purses them again. But he still catches it, all the same... That's right, Namine. Think back to when you looked scared and wary of his very presence.]

So... you were afraid of me, even before you knew who I was. Or, that's what I'm supposed to believe.

[His eyes narrow back at her.]

Let's just cut to the chase. Who are you, really?

[Source material for a fearful expression isn't so hard to find, not with him sitting right across the table from her. She puts forth a valiant effort, however, to not repeat her original mistake. Her jaw still ends up clenching more and more the more he speaks, and she looks a tiny bit as though she feels ill. (It's probably because she does.)]

[Cutting to the chase. There's a very faint tremor in the way she breathes in, eyes shutting just an instant too long. He's full of accusations today. This one, as the others, she suspects she has no choice but to deflect. ... Still, there's something odd, something almost sad even through the carefully suppressed guardedness.]

... Are you really so sure... that I'm anyone at all?

It's not a question of certainty.

[It's taking a lot of control not to lose his temper and just flip the table at her, because as confident as he is that he's at least figured part of her out... her attitude is really digging at him. Vanitas wants to break her shields, but again, now's not the time or the place.]

You have one chance to tell me, willingly.

[The implication being that if she refuses, he'll resort to other methods that won't be as nice as just asking.]

[She'd be half-relieved if he did flip the table at her, because at least that would mean that he'd most likely get thrown out. She already knows whose side the bouncer would be on, after all. That implication does not pass her by, and she's forced to consider whether whatever threat he's making now would be better or worse than the one he would if he knew. Her powers might not be working now, no... but that won't always be the case. And when they are, or if they should happen to once more become available while the two of them are existing at the same time, well... despite all appearances, he'll be the one at a severe disadvantage.]

[It's hard to imagine that sitting well with him. It's hard to imagine a lot of what she knows or can do, even here, sitting well with him.]

But, Vanitas....

[Her frown is a bit difficult to interpret.]

... I really am Nobody. Is this really all because you startled me?

Honestly, no.

[And even though he's still calm, his voice drops even lower, and there's a slight curl to his lip.]

There's just something about you that ticks me off. I dunno what it is, exactly, but if you wanna keep playing dumb, that's fine. There's other people I can ask...

[Not Aqua, since he's not that suicidal. But if Namine knows her, and his guess is right, she's only one out of several.]

[For a moment - and it's really only just one - that stings. It might be partially because of the person that he looks like, and, to an extent, sounds like. To be honest, she really doesn't equate the two. She knows, too well, their differences. The bigger reason is most likely that it reminds her of other people, people she'd much rather not think of, and the remembered suffering they caused her.]

[But that moment passes quickly enough and her concerns move to bigger and worse things. Other people he can ask? Or 'ask'? How many of them does he know about? Her chest clenches horribly. She's been careful lately, yes, but there are old things, and he could have heard things, and-- for the briefest of instants, she wishes she could take that thought from his mind and crush it into a fine powder.]

[The truth is, most of them have no idea who or what she is. The few that do know even less about why she would know of Vanitas. The problem is, he doesn't know that.]

Like who?

[The edge in her voice is very, very slight, buried under forced nonchalance, but it's there, and it's echoed in the sudden hardness to her expression.]

Well... [And he cocks his head slightly, thinking. That word 'nobody' has been coming up a lot lately, hasn't it? Specifically, with a certain blond. It could just be coincidence, since that phrase isn't that unusual to hear but then again...]

There's Roxas. Or Ventus, since you seem to already know Aqua... I'm sure he wouldn't've been trailing far behind. Or introduced you two, even.

And then there's Sora, too.

[That hardness in her expression only grows the longer the list goes on. Ironic, that he missed the people who actually know the most... but then, her connection to them is probably less obvious. (Nearly invisible, in one case.)]

You won't have any luck.

[It comes out before she can stop herself. (He can threaten her all he wants, but when he threatens them-- it's a small blessing that she's managed to keep her expression as level as she has.) It's a much larger blessing that she doesn't actually sound as defensive as she feels.]

There's nothing for them to tell you.

[Nothing about why she knows of him, that is, or 'who she is' in relation to him. As for who she is in general... only two of them have any inkling, and those are limited. ~~And of course, she won't fail to warn them as soon as she can.~~]

[Defensive or not, it's the words themselves that interest him even more. Or rather, make him even angrier than he was before. That is a challenge, and he's ready to accept it.

Abruptly, he pushes his chair away from the table and stands with a rather sharp movement.]

I'll be the judge of that. It's been nice talking to you, Namine. We'll have to do this again sometime.

[She regretted the words soon after they left her mouth. Too hasty. She wishes she could take them back, but--]

[Suddenly he's standing, and the unexpected motion makes her flinch. Her expression is more openly surprised than its been most of this time, but she's quick to recover. There's a bit of a glare that she misses, so when she stares up at him it's with thinned lips and slightly narrowed eyes.]

[... She doesn't want to provoke him any more than she already has, so she says only,]

... Right.

Lux Opening [OPEN]

;^;

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